Like Ronald Reagan, Piscopo wrote he didn’t feel like he had changed, but that the Democratic Party changed around him. Piscopo wrote that he's becoming an independent, not a Republican:

I don't think I'm ready to become a Republican yet ... In good conscience, however, I can't continue to call myself a Democrat. In becoming an independent, I think I'm maintaining the independent (dare I say, libertarian?) mindedness and patriotism that my parents endowed me with. For the country's sake and for their own, I hope the Democrats wake up.

Piscopo said growing up, his father represented immigrants seeking to become Americans:

I was a Democrat because while it was clear to me that the Republican politicians were out of touch and cared for only the upper class, Democrats like Franklin Roosevelt cared for the masses and helping the working man ... By and large, none of these values are represented in the Democratic Party today.

From where I'm standing, the party has largely abandoned its commitment to civil rights and instead allows race-baiters to be national power brokers. As spokesman for the Boys and Girls Clubs of New Jersey, I am hurt that there is not one Democrat in Washington who cares enough about the great inner cities of this country to help those in dire distress from poverty and crime. These cities are in worse shape than those countries from which all those illegal 'children' crossing our borders daily are coming....

Most disheartening, though, is the Democrats’ weak commitment to a strong defense and maintaining America’s place in the world as the only superpower. All I see is an American foreign policy led by a Democratic administration that is floundering when it comes to things like dealing with Iraq, Russia and Syria, inept when it comes to crises like Benghazi, and weak at the knees when it comes to protecting our strongest Middle Eastern ally, Israel.

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